


There's An Endless Road to Rediscover

by orphan_account



Series: The Only Thing That Matters [12]
Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Hate Crime, M/M, Panic Attack, Skateboard AU, Slow burn shipping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-03-23
Packaged: 2018-05-18 21:31:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5943796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From far away, Brandon Stark was very much what Jojen expected him to look like. Long, shaggy brown hair, short with a thin build and converse sneakers done up with his ripped skinny jeans. On a closer look, Jojen saw things he wouldn’t have expected. Brandon Stark didn’t have a bunch of piercing, his nose was sprinkled with freckles and his eyes were full of warmth that reminded Jojen of an autumn afternoon</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"What?" Jojen Reed asked his father, certain that he hadn't heard him correctly. Because surely his father wouldn't be letting an unknown teenage boy come stay in his house, especially not a skateboarder. Howland Reed had always expressed his distaste for the sport. When word got around that the skateboarding world championship would be taking place in their home town, Howland had protested loudly and refused to take part in the foster-a-skate program, no matter how much Meera had begged him to.

So now he was saying he'd completely changed his mind without warning and now some random skater boy was going to come stay with them tomorrow? Jojen was very confused but Meera looked about ready to explode. 

"Are you serious?" Meera almost squealed. "Really?"

Howland shot Meera a short glance. "His name is Brandon Stark, he's apparently one of the best people coming out tonight as well as one of the youngest. He's a year younger than Jojen." 

Meera's face dropped and Jojen had to bite back a laugh. Of course his sister was hoping that their father was bringing some older, hot shot skateboarding guy into the house, acting as though she didn't know their father at all. 

A year younger than Jojen… So this kid was fourteen and competing in a world championship of skateboarding? Jojen would be lying if he said he wasn't impressed. He'd probably was the youngest by a long shot. Which meant he was good… really good. 

Howland was giving them some sort of long speech about respecting the boys' privacy but also making sure that he stayed in line and if he did anything delinquent like to tell him right away and he'd make sure that the boy was sent somewhere else right away.

Jojen just tuned him out, getting excited at the prospect of meeting this boy. 

xxx

From far away, Brandon Stark was very much what Jojen expected him to look like. Long, shaggy brown hair, short with a thin build and converse sneakers done up with his ripped skinny jeans. On a closer look, Jojen saw things he wouldn't have expected. Brandon Stark didn't have a bunch of piercing, his nose was sprinkled with freckles and his eyes will full of  warmth that reminded Jojen of an autumn afternoon. 

"Brandon, it's wonderful to meet you." Howland said, reaching out to shake the boy's hand. Brandon's eyes went wide, making it obvious that nobody had ever offered to shake his hand before but he didn't hesistate in shaking back.

"Please, sir. Call me Bran. Only my mom calls me Bran and that's when she's pissed off." Bran told him, smiling. Howland crinkled his nose at the half-assed curse word. Jojen hid a smirk, thinking of how entertaining this was going to be. He doubted that Bran would be able to relearn his entire life just to please Howland.

"These are my children, Meera and Jojen." Howland gestured towards the two Reed siblings and Bran had a contemplating look on his face, as though considering whether he should be shaking their hands. Jojen waved lightly at the boy and watched his face contort with relief.

"Hey." Meera said, still a little bitter than Howland was fostering a boy younger than her but knowing that it wasn't Bran's fault and he was going to give him proper respect. Jojen glanced at him and smiled again, shrugging slightly. 

Jojen tried not to think about the fact that Bran's eyes hadn't left his face at all since Howland introduced them. He barely even glanced at Meera when she spoken, which was quite a shock to Jojen. Even from a sibling view point, Jojen knew Meera was very attractive- people said it all the time. With her pretty dark curls and soft features, Jojen supposed they might be right. But Bran didn't even seem to notice her, just smiling at Jojen. 

When they got into the car, Bran sat beside Jojen and directed most of his comments and questions towards Jojen. By the end of the car ride, even Meera seemed suspicious. Jojen almost found himself liking the attention, it wasn't very often it was directed at him and not his sister. Plus, Bran seemed nice but it really didn't mean anything. 

xxx

They got back to the house in record time, Jojen actually wondered if he father had speeded to get the ride over with. Bran bounced into the house and looked around with wide eyes. Jojen felt himself blushing. He knew that there house was unnecessarily large and pretty for just three people, but Jojen's mother had always been materialistic and Howland had never been able to say no to her. Even nearly six years after her death, Howland still kept the house the exact way it had been when she last redecorated it, with the exception of Meera and Jojen's rooms which they got free rang of. 

"Whoa." Bran whispered. "This is way bigger than my house and we have eight people living in it." His eyes were huge and he took in everything from the white walls, walls of windows and hanging chandelier. 

Jojen smiled at him, amused by his amazement in the house. He was pretty sure that the Starks were quite wealthy themselves if they could afford for Bran to take these professional lessons for skateboarding. Or maybe they just really cared for their sons happiness, who knows? 

Bran smiled back at Jojen and walked further into the place that was going to become his home. 


	2. Chapter 2

"Wake up, bro." Bran sat himself down on Jojen's bed and tugged on the blanket. Jojen grumbled with irritation and tried to pull the blanket back towards himself. In the past week, Bran had pretty much become glued to Jojen's side, although he supposed that would stop once school started on Monday and Bran finally saw how much of a loser Jojen was.

As if the bookshelves for walls, and chemistry set on the desk weren't enough of a giveaway. Jojen had never really cared about being popular, but now that he'd gotten used to having Bran hanging out he didn't really want to loose the first person that was really his friend. Well, there was Shireen but she didn't really count. She was nearly four years younger despite being in the same grade and only really hung out with Jojen when she crawled through his bedroom window. 

So maybe he liked this Bran kid. Maybe he didn't want Bran to think he was a loser and to bail on him at the last minute. He wanted to have an ally in high school that wasn't a small little girl who wore braids and used words so big that even teachers didn't know what she was talking about most of the time.

"No." Jojen moaned, squeezing his eyes shut as Bran flicked on the light. He tried to pull the blanket higher up on his head but Bran grabbed it before he got the chance.

"Jojen, bro, I've been here a week and you haven't shown me around town at all." Bran complained, sitting himself down on the bed with a smirk. "It's like you're afraid to introduce me to your friends." 

Jojen almost laughed at that because honestly, what friends? He rolled over and faced away from Bran, not wanting to try and explain what he was feeling and why he hadn't shown Bran around town. He thought if he kept Bran away from the people who had always been so mean to Jojen for a just little while longer than maybe Jojen would be able to keep his friendship. Maybe.

"How am I supposed to win a world championship in a town I don’t know anything about?" Bran asked, laughter still in his voice. "You're putting me at disadvantage here, bro." 

Jojen lifted his head up and sighed. He knew that Bran was right, he really should have brought him around long before this. Meera had pretty much lost interest in Bran when it became obvious that Bran was much more interested in hanging around with Jojen than her. She was still perfectly nice to him, but they didn't really have any sort of connection. 

"I don't feel like moving." Jojen mumbled in a pathetic, last ditch effort to avoid getting out of bed. He'd much rather just stay in bed with Bran all day. (And Jojen winced because that thought put way too much bad thoughts in his head).

"But you will because I asked you to!" Bran started bouncing on the bed to the point where Jojen was starting to feel nauseous and he finally stood up. 

"You're the worst person I've ever met." Jojen grumbled, running a hand through his messy blond curls and shooting Bran the dirtiest look he could muster. Bran simply smiled back at him while jumping to his feet. 

"Awe, no you don't, bro."

xxx

Jojen glanced around the pool nervously, knowing the he was wringing his hands. Bran kept glancing at him in concern, eyes bright with excitement he couldn't hold back. Jojen wished that he could better hide the way he was feeling but he couldn't really control his social anxiety. He also couldn't control the way people were going to treat him out in public. Jojen usually avoided going anywhere without Meera, because people usually just ignored him while he was with his sister but Meera had been busy. 

So here was Jojen, out with somebody that nobody in town knew and without the protection his sister's social status usually gave him. Jojen was pretty sure he was screwed, and not in the good way.

"What's wrong with you?" Bran finally asked him as the group of boys, led by none other than Joffrey Baratheon started to approach them and Jojen damn near hyperventilated.

"N-Nun-Nothing." Jojen stammered, mentally smacking himself for being such a goddamn fool. He wasn't sure why he couldn't get himself under control right now, Joffrey hadn't even said anything to-

"Hey it's Meera's brother." Joffrey's voice rang out to him. Standing on either side of Joffrey were Ramsay Bolton and Theon Greyjoy, looking cocky and smug. "How's it going dick wad?"

Bran blinked, glancing back and forth between Joffrey and Jojen, who could already feel the tears stinging his eyes. He didn’t know why the kids at school hated him so much, but it always really hurt. Jojen was used to it but that didn't mean it hurt less when it happened repeatedly.

Joffrey pushed past Bran without a second look and rested a hand down on Jojen's shoulder. "Read any good books lately? Maybe one of our teachers for next year are looking for a recommendation."

And maybe the words seemed innocent enough, but the tone of voice he held was anything but. Bran was glancing back and forth between the two boys as though he wasn't sure what to make of the situation yet but seemed to be coming to the conclusion that they weren't friends. 

Jojen winced as Joffrey squeezed his shoulder with more force and fought the urge to pull away. Showing weakness just excited Joffrey more, he'd learned that the hard way. But Joffrey was really hurting his shoulder now, nails digging in the most uncomfortable way.

"Where's your girlfriend?" Joffrey asked him, leaning closer and Jojen felt a sickness rush through his stomach.

"Shireen isn't my girlfriend." He told Joffrey, hoping his voice seemed tough but knowing that it wavered in his slight fear.

Joffrey laughed coldly. "Sure she is. She's a girlfriend and she's your only friend. Make as well make it official, Reed." 

Bolton and Greyjoy all cackled at this and Jojen watched as Bran's eyes darkened. Jojen groaned internally, they hadn't even made it half an hour in public before Bran realized he was a friendless loser and not worth his time. 

"Hey, what's your problem man?" Bran asked, surprising Jojen. He was looking at Joffrey with immense dislike and Jojen felt a rush of affection rush through him. Bran wasn't going to ditch him after all… he was actually going to stand up to him towards the harshest bullies in school. 

Joffrey turned around slowly, eyes narrowing at Bran. "Who are you? You shouldn't be hanging around with this dweeb, you almost look like you could be cool." 

Joffrey stepped towards Bran, whom seemed to take a subtle step backwards whilst narrowing his eyes in suspicion. 

"I'm serious. First impression mean a lot here in West Rose." Joffrey smiled at Bran. "You might want to be careful who you're seen spending time with it. And we'd be perfectly willing to help you there."

Jojen winced. Here it was, the moment when Bran really did leave him behind in the dust. You couldn't refuse an offer like that from Joffrey Baratheon, it was social suicide. Jojen braced himself, waiting for the impact.

But Bran just scowled, shaking his head. "I'm pretty sure I can tell the the right people to be seen with on my own, thanks though." 

Jojen's jaw dropped and he was pretty sure it would've hit the ground if it hadn't been attached to his body. Bran was standing up to Joffrey, making it more than a little obvious that he was new here. He was also making things here bad for himself but apparently that didn’t seem to bother him. Bran stared Joffrey down, his eyes unwavering and his expression unwavering.

“You’re going to regret that decision.” Joffrey nodded towards Bolton and Grey, and both boys moved before Jojen could blink. Each boy took hold of Bran by an arm and started tugging him towards the flag pole- Joffrey’s well known flag pole.

Xxx

Jojen probably should have expected to be tied up, too. Joffrey and his goons never missed an opprunity to embarrass Jojen in front of public. He sometimes wondered that if Joffrey didn’t hate him so much maybe he’d have some friends here in West Rose. But Joffrey did hate him and he spent too much time being tormented by them.

“Okay, Jojen, my phone is my in my back pocket.” Bran called over to him, his voice sounding heavily. Clearly he’d never been put into a situation like this before. People walking by were staring and giggling, but not even attempting to help him. “I think you can reach it from where you’re sitting. Grab it and call you dad.”

Jojen felt his face heat up. “Bran, I am not reaching into your back pocket!”

He heard Bran laugh. “Oh, come on man! Bro up!”

Jojen shook his adamantly, although he was sure that Bran wasn’t able to see him. “If we’re doing it that way, my phone is my back pocket, too! Why don’t reach for my mine and call my dad?”

Bran was silent for a long moment. “Uh... Okay. Maybe we did a new plan.” 

“You two are truly hopeless.” Meera’s voice rang out to them and Jojen felt his hopes soar. His sister would help them and probably rip Joffrey a new asshole for treating her brother like shit. Joffrey had once a very large crush on Meera in public school and Jojen often wondered if the way he was treated by the boy was because he mad that Meera shot him down and knew that he wouldn’t be able to take his anger out on her.

“I suppose this is Joffrey’s doing?” Meera asked, kneeling down to start untying the two boys with a  shake of her head. 

“What’s the matter with that dick?” Bran asked, rubbing his wrists as Jojen stood up with a flushed face. “Jojen didn’t know anything to him, why was he acting like that?”

“Bran, you’ll find that most people act like that around me.” Jojen said slowly, walking away with turning his head. He could feel the eyes of Bran and Meera staring at the back of his head and could even see the confused and sad expressions. 


	3. Chapter 3

"You didn't seem surprised." Bran said to Meera, rubbing his wrists where they'd been tied. He glanced at the dark haired girl, who surely seemed grim and irritated by didn't hold the slightest bit of surprise in her expression.

Meera sighed. "Because I'm not. Joffrey Baratheon is a right prick, and he's seemed to taken a liking to mocking my brother." She was walking several steps in front of Bran, in a hurry to reach the house and check on Jojen.

"Why though?" Bran asked, struggling to catch up to Meera's face paced walk. "What did Jojen ever do that that guy? Jojen is probably the nicest person I've ever met, I don't think he could have done something to cause that much hatred."

Meera was quiet for a moment, long enough to trick up a little suspicion from Bran. "Joffrey is just a hateful person. It has nothing to do with Jojen."

"But you made it sound like he targeted Jojen specifically. Why would he do that?" Bran pressed her. The events from that day had troubled him deeply and he couldn't even put his finger on what bothered him so much. Maybe the way Jojen just accepted the treatment or how… empty he'd sounded before he left. Whatever it was, it put Bran on edge and made him want to help. Jojen Reed seemed to bring out a protectiveness in Bran that he didn't even know existed.  

"There was a time when Joffrey actually treated Jojen rather nicely, I don't know if Jojen even remembers." Meera began, staring off into the distance as though lost in a memory and not entirely aware that she was even talking. "Jojen has always been the type to let the bad things take over the good. But Joffrey got along well with Jojen when they were young. They could have been friends if I hadn't screwed it up." 

"How did you screw it up?" Bran asked, shaking his head. He didn't understand anything about this backwards town. Why did pretentious boys with fish lips get to be considered cool and pick on kids who were just genuinely nice and caring? Did seemed so unfair that Bran felt himself beginning to pout. 

"It doesn't matter now." Meera shook her head, reaching out for the front door. "I'm sure Joffrey and I are the only people who still remember what happened." 

Bran watched Meera head inside and move instantly towards Jojen's bedroom up the stairs. Bran hesitated in the doorway, unsure if this was something he should be part of. He'd been there when it had happened but he didn't think he'd reached that level of friend with Jojen yet. It would probably only embarrass Jojen more to have Bran there. 

Bran rubbed his wrists again and moved towards the kitchen, his thoughts getting all caught up in the thoughts of the green eyed boy that was probably the most important person in his life right now. Bran was homesick, of course he was… He missed his parents, his siblings, his friends. He especially missed his dog, Summer. Somehow though, hanging around with Jojen made Bran miss those things a little bit less. It was like this one person somehow managed to fill the place of a parent, a sibling and best friend all that same time.

Bran hadn't really given himself the time to think about it much. He figured that if he thought about home too much, he'd miss it but there wasn't the empty feeling he was expecting. It was as if the emotions in his body had all settled on his anxiety over Jojen and wanting to know if he was okay. Jojen Reed had taken over him and he hadn't even noticed it.  

xxx

"Go away, Meera." Jojen groaned for the hundredth time. "I don't want to talk about it." Jojen attempted to bury his head deeper into his book but Meera grabbed it from him and tossed it. Jojen's eyes widened. "That was a limited edition!"

"I don't care." Meera huffed, crossing her arms and glaring at her brother.

"It was signed by the author!" Jojen continued, glaring right back at her. 

"It'll still be signed by the author if the pages are a little bent." Meera sighed. "I know you, Jojen. You say you don't want to talk about it, but you need to. It'll bottle up inside you until you explode." 

Jojen got up, moving to get his book. It really had been expensive and he didn't want it ruined. "I don't need to talk about anything, I'm used to it from Joffrey. Where's Bran? Did he stay behind with them?"

Meera was quiet for so long that Jojen turned around. She was giving him a hard look as though slightly confused. "Do you think he'd do that? Jojen, you're pretty much his only friend here."

"Yeah but if he went with Joffrey, he'd be cool." Jojen shrugged, trying to keep his tone neutral though his stomach was jumping. "It would've been a good decision."

"Being friends with you is a better decision than hanging around with Joffrey any day." Meera said coldly. "Bran's smart enough to see that. He was worried about you when you just stormed off like that!" 

Jojen blinked. He didn't know how he felt about that. It weird feeling had settled in his stomach and knew that the feeling at least he didn't like. "He shouldn't've- I didn't want him to- That's stupid." 

Meera had a new look on her face, a small smile as though she was seeing something Jojen wasn't. "Alright, Jojen. Well maybe you should go make sure he hasn't burned a line into our living room with his pacing."

Jojen rolled his eyes.

xxx

Bran certainly didn't seem worried to Jojen. He was sitting at the kitchen table, perfectly peacefully, eating a sandwich that seemed about five layers thick. A small smile tugged at Jojen's lips.

"Big enough for you there?" He said, walking over and taking a seat. Bran nearly choked at the unexpected voice.

"Hey! Are you okay?" Bran asked, coughing slightly.

"Should be asking you that." Jojen replied, smacking Bran on the back with a grin. "Just about to choke to death, maybe? I'd rather you didn't die while my father is your caregiver. Probably get us into a bit of trouble there."

"Since when are you so cocky?" Bran asked, leaning away from Jojen's touch. Jojen dropped his hand instantly and pulled away to put more space between their bodies.

"I've always been cocky." Jojen shrugged. "Maybe? I don't know." 

"Nah, you haven't been. You're not cocky." Bran shook his head. "It doesn't suit you, you're a cinnamon roll."

"A- a what?" Jojen blinked slowly at him but Bran was just grinning from ear to ear and shrugged in reply. Jojen sighed, shaking his head. He didn't think he'd ever really understand Brandon Stark.

So he reached out, took Bran's sandwich and took a bite. 


	4. Chapter 4

"Can you believe this bloody schedule?" Bran asked in disbelief, fidgeting with his tie and shoving a piece of paper under Jojen's nose. Jojen blinked and leaned back slightly to get a better look before laughing. "Chemistry, Advanced Mathematics, Western History, double Physical Education and Biology. Isn't this the suckiest Monday you've ever heard of?"

"Well, on the plus side, you have everything with me except gym." Jojen pointed out. 

"I shouldn't be in all these classes for smart kids. I'm going to flunk out." Bran sighed, sounding depressed. "Why did you father insist that I take AP classes? You'd think he'd just let me fall into some stereotypes and take wood shop or something?"

Jojen blinked. "West Rose High doesn't have wood shop. We're borderline an Art school, I think you might be lucky we have gym this year. It's been cancelled before because of lack of students signing up for it." 

Bran looked scandalized. "Who's ever heard of a school cancelling gym? Everybody should take gym for the easy pass!" 

"It's not really an easy pass here though." Jojen shrugged, feeling as though he needed to defend his school. "Everybody here more or else is focused on school and arts. Sometimes club. We don't have sports here as much, which was why it was such a surprise when Mayor Robert announced that the skateboarding championship was going to be held here…" Jojen trailed off for a second before smiling. 

Bran narrowed his eyes, wondering for a moment if Jojen was mocking him. He decided that Jojen probably wasn't- or at least wasn't intending to- so he went back to playing with his tie. Jojen smacked his hand away.

"Stop fidgeting!" He hissed with an eyeroll. Bran pouted. 

"I can't help it! I'm uncomfortable! What sort of high school enforces uniforms?" He whined while swinging his messenger bag more comfortably on his shoulder. This whole thing was a new and odd experience for Bran. Back at Winterfell High, Bran had barely been forced to wear clothing. More than once he'd worn boxers instead of shorts in the summer and the only person who seemed to notice was his fashionista sister, Sansa. 

Sansa. His sister's name sent a stab through him and Bran bit his lip. He missed his family more than he thought he would. He missed them more every day, especially Robb and Arya.  He missed how Robb would always make inappropriate jokes that were just lowkey enough that their mother wouldn't catch them but all the Stark children and their father would have to bite back laughs. He missed Arya's loud, angry music that shook the floor every time she played it. He missed-

"Hey, you still with me?" Jojen waved his hand in front of Bran's face. Bran, not for the first time, thanked the Gods for placing him in the same house as Jojen Reed. If he hadn't, Bran most likely would have given up and gone home a long time ago. 

"Yeah, fine. Just hungry." Bran said the first excuse that came to mind. He didn't know why he didn't just tell Jojen he was feeling homesick, surely Jojen would understand and be great about it, but for now it was something Bran wanted to keep to himself. It wasn't unbearable yet.

"Well, you're in bloody luck Brandon." Jojen clasped Bran on the shoulder and pulled him to start walking again. "West Rose has the best caf food in the country and it's all free with your student card."

This might be the best news Bran had heard in a long time.

xxx

He sat beside Jojen is Chemistry, goggles strapped to his face and a large array of colourful chemicals in front of them. 

"Pass me the Copper Chloride," Jojen said off-handed as though Bran should know what that was. Bran simply stared at him for a long moment with eye brows raised. Jojen finally glanced over and sighed.

"You really don't know anything about chem, do you?" He asked, smiling slightly.

"Not a bloody clue." Bran confirmed, shooting the chemicals a dirty look as though it was their fault.

"Well, if it makes you feel better, everything is labelled." Jojen said, taking one of the tubes himself and dumping into the large container, making the colour darken. Bran glanced down at the tubes and saw there was, in fact, words on masking tape for each one. Not that they made much sense either. I, Na… what the hell? 

"They're just bloody letters!" Bran cried in dismay. "How does this help me?"

Jojen sighed and pulled out his textbook. He flipped to the back and placed it down onto the table. On a two page spread was a colourful chart with many of the letters on it. "Here. I'll do the experiment, you study the Periodic Table until your eyes bleed." 

xxx

Maths wasn't much better, the combination of letters and numbers confusing and by the end of Western History he could feel a headache beginning to form. "I hate school."

Jojen laughed and patted Bran on the back. "Well, it's lunch now and then you have gym. Don't look like somebody just killed your puppy." 

Bran whimpered, thinking of Summer, and Jojen shot him a worried glance before guiding him back towards the cafeteria (which really was incredible, thank you very much.) Meera was already seated beside two pretty blondes, one looking too old for high school and the other looking much too young.

"Guys, this is Bran." Jojen introduced him as the two boys placed down their stuff. "Bran, this is Dany Targaryen and Shireen Baratheon. And before you ask, no neither of them are proper high school age."

"I'm training as a teacher's assistant." Dany informed him, her accent so rich that even Bran could tell it was British. She was very, very pretty Bran noted in an objectively way. She must be close to the age of his brother Robb. "I want to work with young children when I'm older, but the only place I could get an apprenticeship this year was for the high school and I figured a little practice was better than none at all." 

Shireen seemed much younger than anybody else Bran had seen in this school. "I’m Shireen. I skipped four grades." 

Bran's eyebrows shot up and he glanced at Meera. Really? A future teacher and genius who skipped four grades? This were the kids that the Reeds hung around with? Meera's eyes were laughing.

"I don't usually sit here." Meera informed him. "Just wanted to make you not feel so much as though you've gotten yourself lost in Brainiac city on your first day." 

Jojen scoffed and tossed a crumbled up piece of paper at his sister's head. (He had bad aim.) He shot her a dirty look and took hold of Bran's arm. "Come on. I'm starved." 

Bran followed quickly, also rather hungry and knowing that he'd want to eat before double gym class. Jojen's hand lingered on his arm and Bran felt the odd urge to reach out and grab his hand. To distract himself from this, Bran pulled away slightly from Jojen. This caused a weird look to come across Jojen's face but he said nothing until after they'd gotten their food and were heading back to the table.

"Don't feel intimidated." Jojen told him. "Dany and Shireen are both really nice, and I've known Shireen for years. Can't say I spend too much time with Dany but I like her." 

"Yeah, but you can relate to them." Bran sighed, feeling more and more out of place at this school. Jojen shot him a slightly sad look before smiling.

"Dany's here on her apprenticeship, she didn't grow up here. She left her whole family behind to come here. Just like you, Bran." Jojen informed him with a slight smile. "Don't knock them and their offers of friendship down before you even try to know them." 

xxx

Bran often got lost in his own thoughts while he was running. It was usually easier when he had his headphones in and could get lost in the music instead of the sound of his gym teacher yelling. Either way, his mind tended to wander whenever he ran. As his feet hit the gravel of the track repeatedly he was surprised by where his mind wandered. 

It started with Summer, thinking about how much he missed his dog. His dog running besides him as his thoughts went through his brains like water. And as they tended to do, the thoughts travelled and they ended examining Jojen Reed's face. It wasn't sure how his thoughts ended up in this place in but Bran didn't feel any need to push them away- they seemed innocent enough. Simple little observations like how Jojen had the smallest traces of freckles across his nose or how his mossy green eyes actually had little specs of gold all through them. He didn't even know when he'd noticed these things. 

His thoughts strayed further… Lower. He marveled at Jojen's shoulders in his soft looking long sleeves, and how they appeared to be well toned for somebody who claimed to spend all their time at a chemistry set or reading books. He wondered if Jojen's shirt helped pronounce his shoulders or if they'd look better without one.

Bran tripped and almost fell, marveling at the thoughts that had burst through his mind. He managed to regain his footing and run once again, knowing his eyes were wide and cheeks were red. The thing was, Bran had pretty much considered himself bisexual ever since he was old enough to stop and think about his sexuality. It had never been a big deal to him but he's never found himself falling for somebody he was friends with. His attraction towards boys had mostly been an objective thing, celebrities and boys he'd seen around. A sort of "Hey, you're attractive. I'd like to make out with you a little bit."

But Jojen wasn't somebody he saw out of the corner of his eye or in a movie that he wanted to hook up with. Jojen was attractive in a way that Bran didn't even notice he found attractive until he stopped to think about it, and Jojen was also a good fucking person. He was smart with his own type of humour that was actually sort of hilarious. He was able to put up with people's bullshit and seemed as though he could tolerate Bran even in his most annoying moods. Jojen Reed was a gem to this world and-

Oh fuck. Oh shit. Oh no. 


	5. Chapter 5

Jojen came out of the shower, rubbing his hair with the extra towel while one was wrapped around his waist. He silently cursed himself for forgetting to bring a change of clothes into the bathroom with him, something he didn't think he'd ever done before. He always brought his clothes with him, ever since he was child still sharing Sunday night baths with Meera. 

He tossed his hair towel rather unceremoniously onto the floor and made a mental note to pick it up later. He was running late tonight in a rather un-Jojenlike fashion. He pulled on his black dress pants and socks, making a grab for the white collared shirt. 

"Jojen!" Bran's voice carried up the stairs and moved quickly. "Meera told me to tell you, and I quote 'if you don't hurry your scrawny ass up then you're walk-'" Bran burst into the room before Jojen could give a warning.  Jojen didn't even get the chance to cover up his naked torso. 

"Oh!" Bran gasped, eyes going wide and cheeks flooding with colour. "I uh-" 

And was it possible that Bran was staring? It seemed like he was, his eyes trailing across Jojen's chest and stomach. Jojen fought off the urges to blush and cover himself. He just smiled slightly and tugged on his white shirt before reaching for his tie. 

"Yeah. Be right down." He said, proud of how nonchalant his voice sounded. "I'll be right down."

Bran nodded mutely and left the room without a word. Jojen thought that he'd been acting rather odd.

xxx

Oh no, he's hot. Bran sat in the backseat, legging bouncing up and down the entire way to school without saying a word. The same thoughts flowed through his brain the entire way there. Oh no, he's hot. 

Bran had already come to the small conclusion that he had a minor crush on Jojen. He hadn't even decided what sort of crush it was, it could very well just be an appreciation of the things Jojen has done for him. But now that Bran could see how nice Jojen looked shirtless, well… it sort of killed Bran's resolve to make this little crush go away. 

Jojen kept glancing over his shoulder the entire ride, a look of concern on his face.  He, of course, could tell that Bran was particularly quiet even if Meera was too busy singing along to the radio to notice. Jojen also appeared a little anxious too, and Bran could almost hear Jojen overthinking the situation. Worrying that he'd made Bran uncomfortable, putting this all down to his fault, deciding he would give Bran some space. Stupid Jojen and his big brain. And nice arms and soft looking skin and… Stop it Bran! 

Meera jumped out of the car immediately upon arrival and hurried towards a group of kids standing near the picnic tables outside the front entrance. Bran sighed, apparently Meera hadn't been kidding when she'd said that she didn't usually hang out with Jojen and his friends. And this wasn’t so much an issue with Jojen- Bran had no problem spending time with Jojen, he quite enjoyed it- but his friends still hadn't grown on him, and he doubted that they ever would.

"Hey, wait." Bran grabbed Jojen's arm and pulled him back. Jojen looked at Bran, a frown appearing between his brow. He knew that Jojen was more than a little bit confused by his behaviour this morning was cursing himself for being obvious. "Skip chem with me." 

Jojen's eyes went wide. "What!?! Bran, we can't just skip class!!" He seemed floored that Bran would even suggest such a thing. Bran fought off the urge to laugh.

"Joj, we had a lab yesterday." Bran said slowly. "You said yourself that the day after a lab was always a work period on the paper."

"Well, it is, yes but-" Jojen began, looking quite ready to argue but Bran rolled his eyes and cut him off. 

"Come on, Jojen. Don't try to pretend that you didn't finish the paper last night." Bran snarked, crossing his arms and hoping he looked sassy. Jojen shook his head.

"I didn't finish the paper last night."

"Jojen!"

"I didn't." Jojen sighed, before smiling slightly. "I did it all in class yesterday after finishing the experiment early."

"Exactly!" Bran cheered, holding his hands out in a ta-da fashion. "Come somewhere with me. Right now." 

"Bran, the professor is probably going to assign reading at the end of class-"

"Reading that you've already done, you mean?"

Jojen glared but Bran could see his resolve weakening. They both knew that Bran was going to win this battle, and it made Bran rather proud of himself. He doubted that anybody had ever been able to convince Jojen Reed to skip class before.

Jojen sighed. "Fine. But you know if we get caught, my father is going to send you home and no skateboarding championship for you?"

"Yeah." Bran shrugged. "But we won't get caught." 

xxx

"You're forcing me to skip my favourite class to watch you skateboard?" Jojen asked, crinkling his nose in distaste. Bran glanced at Jojen over his shoulder as he tightened his helmet and smirked.

"No." Bran said simply. "I'm forcing you to skip your favourite class to video tape me skateboarding. I post a video every week on YouTube and that's not going to change just because I moved away from my last camera man." 

An odd look crossed Jojen's face at Bran's words but he made no response aside from taking the video camera Bran handed to him.

"You probably should stop posting videos on YouTube," Jojen said thoughtfully, watching Bran push the skateboard back and forth slowly with his foot. "Your competition might learn too much about you. Figure out your moves, decide the best way to be better than you."

Bran laughed. "My competition can watch all they want, they won't be better than me. Plus, they aren't as smart as you, Jojen, they wouldn't think to watch my videos." 

Jojen's face flushed at the compliment and Bran felt a wave of satisfaction rush through him. "Well, then maybe you should see if they have videos. Don't go into the competition blind, y'know?" 

Bran titled his head at Jojen and smiled slightly. "Yeah, well if that's how you'd like to spend our evening." 

Jojen rolled his eyes. "Who said I was offering to watch them with you, dickhead?" But he winked to let Bran know that he was joking. 

"Awe, I love you too asshole." Bran cooed, pushing off down the ramp and missing how Jojen's face flushed at his words.


	6. Chapter 6

"I'm putting the books in the return slot as we speak." Jojen informed his sister, his cell phone hugged tightly between his ear and shoulder. He smiled softly at the sound of the book tumbling down the metal drop into the basket awaiting below. It was one of his favourite sounds in the world. "Be home in fifteen minutes."

"I'm starting the Grey's Anatomy marathon in ten, whether you're here or not." Meera's voice chirped from the other end of the line. "So you better run." 

Jojen laughed and hung up. He doubted his sister would ever actually start the marathon without him. It was an annual tradition that the week leading up to every season premiere, they would marathon every episode ever created beforehand. They've slowly needed more time to watch them all as the show has progressed into the twelfth season but he knew Meera wouldn't start without him. Also, Bran was going to be watching the show for the first time and Jojen didn't want to miss that.   

"Hey, pretty boy." The voice rang out to Jojen in the dark and sent chills down his spine. Joffrey Baratheon came stepping out the shadows behind the old building and Jojen stopped dead in his tracks. All he could think about was that looking an angry dog in the eyes showed aggression so he quickly dropped his gaze to the ground in hopes that Joffrey wouldn't cause a scene. "I've been thinking about you. And how you keep saying you aren't dating that little munchkin." 

Jojen bit his lip. Joffrey had always been convinced that Jojen was in a relationship with Shireen, and Jojen himself had never truly understood why. At first he'd thought that Joffrey had just been teasing him but after a while he started to see that the boy really thought Jojen was dating her. He wasn't quite sure how he gave off that vibe so he didn't know to fix it but he didn't think anybody else believed that. 

"I've finally figured out why you aren't dating her." Joffrey stumbled closer, his stance making it obvious that he was impaired by alcohol. The close he got, the more Jojen would smell the whiskey that it seemed more like Joffrey had bathed in than drank. "At first I thought m-maybe you were b-being a decent dude and stayin' away b-b-because he's a child. But then I said to myself 'Joffrey, this is M-M-meera's little brother. Who are you k-kidding by saying he's a decent dude?" 

A bundle of panic settled itself in Jojen's stomach and he fought the urge to run away. He'd tried running away from his problems enough to know they just chased after him. Maybe if he stayed quiet than Joffrey would run his mouth and be done with it. 

"Then it hit me." Joffrey laughed, punching Jojen in the shoulder as though they were old friends sharing a joke. Jojen bit back the gasp off air that attempt to escape him and willed off the panic attack he felt coming. The last thing he needed was Joffrey to see him like that. Again. "It's because she's a girl isn't?"

Jojen didn't look up, he wouldn't. He wasn't able to give Joffrey had satisfaction. Let him talk. He thinks he's tough and smart but Jojen wasn't giving him any reaction that he wants. Jojen was going to stand there, take the nasty words he knew were coming and then maybe cry himself to sleep. Suddenly he wasn't so interested in watching Grey's Anatomy, he just wanted to go home and go to bed.

"I didn't notice for a long time, but then that skateboard kid came and everything made sense." Joffrey laughed and Jojen broke his own vow not to look up. His gaze flickered up to Joffrey's face for just a moment before meeting the ground again but it was enough to strike actually fear into Jojen's heart. Joffrey wasn't just drunk, he was drunk and he was angry. Jojen had never seen the eldest Baratheon child look so angry. His eyes were wide and his smirk was more of a sneer and Jojen was shaking now. Angry Joffrey was not a Joffrey you wanted to meet alone in a dark parking lot. "You fancy him, Reed. Can't be surprised. Makes sense that you'd be a faggot." 

Jojen winced, the word hitting him like a slap in the face. He'd heard it before, sure, and he'd always hated it but it never been directed towards him before. Never used to hurt him, never spoken with such menace and hatred in his direction. He knew that West Rose wasn't the most accepting of places in the world, but he'd never thought it would be a problem. He didn't think anybody would ever find out.

"Why do you care?" Jojen heard himself saying, mentally smacking himself for doing so. Why was he being so dumb? He did want to provoke Joffrey? Did he have a death wish? "What does it affect you?"

"It affects me, Jojen, because I don't like seeing fags running around dirtying my town." Joffrey leaned close. He grabbed Jojen's chin and forced him to make eye contact. Joffrey's eyes were dancing with anger and something else- something that might resemble sadness. "I think I might need to remind you how images and appearances matter around here."

Joffrey's fist connected with the side of Jojen's face before he could react. Jojen hit the ground with a loud gasp and Joffrey was pulling him back to his feet before he could really get the air back into lungs. Joffrey smashed him up against the wall of the library, slamming his fist back into the same spot he had before. He did this move three more time before Jojen felt the skin breaking open.

"Where's your little skateboarding boyfriend now, Reed?" Joffrey sneered, both hands clasped on Jojen's shirt. Jojen squeezed his eyes shut and willed Joffrey to stop, prayed that he'd done what he needed to do. "Or your sister? Are they not here to protect you now? How unfortunate." 

Joffrey brought his knee up directly into Jojen's crotch and Jojen let out a loud groan. His body prickled with pain and his legs gave out behind him, Joffrey grip was now the only thing holding Jojen above the ground. "Yes, that hurt didn't it? Well, I suppose it's a good thing you won't be having children anyway isn't it?" 

Tears were stinging the back of Jojen's eyes but he still refused to cry. What little control he had on himself, Jojen would not cry. He was let Joffrey kill him before he let Joffrey ever see him cry again. Joffrey punched him again- this time to the nose-, slamming him back up against the wall before letting him fall to the ground with another groan.

Joffrey kicked him once, twice, three times to the gut before landing one final blow to the side of Jojen's head. Black spots clouded his vision and the taste of blood filled his mouth instantly. Joffrey was saying something but Jojen could only hear bits and pieces. "Stupid… show them… Renly… show them." Then there was the distinct sound of Joffrey's footsteps walking away, leaving him there. 

My phone. Jojen thought to himself, willing his hand to move and pull it from his pocket. Gotta call Meera. Gotta get Meera. But the black spots became bigger and even thinking became too much of a struggle for Jojen to do. His eyes dipped shut again and he couldn't open them after that.

xxx

Meera was pacing. And pacing. And pacing. Jojen had said he's be home in fifteen minutes over an hour ago and she was thoroughly freaking out. Bran had decided it would be best if he didn't freak out with her, so he kept his freaking out silent inside his head and in the constant texts he'd been sending Jojen for the last half hour.  

"Jojen Reed, you answer your phone right now!" Meera shouted into her phone, pacing. She hung up and flung her phone down towards the floor. Bran looked up at her and tried to keep his expression neutral. He knew he failed miserably when Meera made a grab for her car keys. "Let's go."

Bran jumped up, eager for something to do other than send unanswered texts to Jojen and mutter lies to Meera about he was sure everything was fine. "Where are we going?" He asked her, even though part of him suspected.

"Library. Better place to start than any. I'm going to find my brother." 

xxx

Bran and Meera peered into the dark parking lot and couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Meera crashed her foot down to the pavement. "Where is he?" She sounded close to tears. Bran glanced around again and noticed something crumbled by the ground near the wall of the building. Something… large.

"Oh my God, Meera." Bran breathed out, already moving towards it. The closer he got the more obvious it was that the crumpled figure was Jojen, and a Jojen that was in very bad shape. Bran broke into a run and dropped to the ground, scraping his knees against the pavement and ripping open a pant leg. 

"Jojen!" Bran gasped, feeling Meera drop down beside him but not looking up to her. Jojen's face was bloody and his check had a large gash across it. Tried blood dripped down from his hair line. "Oh my God, Jojen, please wake up." 

Meera grabbed hold of Jojen's wrist and pressed her two fingers against it. She let out a little sigh. "He's alive."

Bran blinked. He'd never considered that Jojen wasn't alive. It hadn't even crossed his mind. Oh God, what if he dies? "What do you think happened?" Bran breathed out, his hands shaking.

"I have an idea." Meera replied, sounding truly venomous. "Help me with him." 

Just as they went to reach for him, Jojen groaned and shifted. Bran jerked backwards but Meera was unphased. She leaned closer, brushing her hand through Jojen's blond fringe that was sticky with blood. "Jojen? Are you with us?" 

Another groan in response but Jojen's mossy green eyes flickered open. Bran pressed the back of his hand to his mouth and bit down on his lip.

"Jojen…" Meera whispered, her eyes swimming with tears. "What happened? Who did this to you?"

Jojen's eyes flicked up to Bran, remaining there for a long moment before he replied with "I don't know. I didn't see them."

Meera looked over her shoulder slowly, making eye contact with Bran. In that one moment he knew that Meera had come to same conclusion he had. 

Jojen was lying. 


	7. Chapter 7

"He's lying, Bran!" Meera hissed, her eyes not leaving the front door as the pair of them waited for Jojen to come out.

"I know that, Meera." Bran sighed lightly, leaning against the back seat and looking up at the roof of the small car. He could sense the anger behind Meera's words and felt to- a degree- himself. Meera felt entitled to her anger, as though it was blasphemy in itself- as though Jojen had no right to be keeping his attack to himself. Bran didn't feel the same. There was obvious fear and even shame in Jojen since the attack, and if the boy didn't want to talk about it, Bran wasn't going to

force him. "You can't make him talk. He won't if he doesn't want to."

"But why is he lying? What does he think I'm going to do?" Meera punched the steering wheel and Bran sighed. It seemed quite obvious exactly what Jojen thought Meera was going to do. Bran could see it clearly himself. She wasn't one to allow an attack like this on her brother, and Jojen knew it well.

Bran opened his mouth to reply but Jojen dropped himself down into the front seat and he let his mouth close again. Jojen spent the entire ride in silence, staring out the window sullenly, and Bran wondered if maybe there was more on his mind than just the bruises that had been left behind.

xxx

"I don't know Arya, it's all very weird." Bran spoke into his phone, wedged between his ear and his shoulder. His sister called him often, and their conversations always centered about Bran and what his life was like with the Reeds. Arya herself seemed to act as though the Reeds were her friends as well, and had be horrified when Bran had told her about Jojen's attack.

"You said he won't talk about it, so maybe just leave it alone? Let him come to you if he wants to talk." Arya wasn't usually the advice giving type, but Bran didn't think this was something Sansa- the family advice giver- would be experienced it. Arya knew more about fights, that was for sure. Though Bran supposed this wasn't much of a fight.

"I don't think he will, hard as Meera has been trying to get him to. I don't see Jojen ever wanting to talk about this, but I think he needs to." Bran sighed, leaning against his locker. "I'm just really worried about him. I know he knows who did it, and I know he's afraid to tell me. I just want to help."

"Okay, Bran, are we going to talk about your crush on this kid yet or not?" Arya asked into the phone, Bran nearly able to see her smirk. He opened his mouth, not quite sure how he was going to respond, when Meera appeared at his side. Relieved, Bran quickly told Arya he had to go and hung up. "What's up?"

Meera quickly stuffed a bag into his locker and closed it. "I'm going out tonight, that's for you and Jojen. Don't let him have too much, just enough to get him talking."

Bran blinked, knowing what Meera was getting at and not sure if he liked it.

xxx

Bran dropped the bottle down on the table and Jojen crinkled his eyebrows. “What… Bran where did you get this?”

 “Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies, Jojen.” Bran smirked wickedly, his brown hair having grown so long since moving in that it now covered his blue eyes. “Just going to help you feel better.”

 “You mean you're going to get me drunk and hope I'll skip up to tell you everything.” Jojen rolled his eyes and pushed the bottle away. Bran sighed, sitting down across from Jojen with a pout.

 “Okay, I'll admit it. That was what Meera’s plan was when she gave this to me.” Bran uncapped the bottle, and pulled a shot glass from the counter. “But personally? I'm just in this for the fun, and I doubt I'll even remember if you do tell me something. Wasn't Meera’s best plan.”

Jojen watched Bran drown back the shot with only the barest hint of a grimace. “Aren't you a little young to be able to drink like that?”

 “Two older brothers. Been drinking since I was old enough to not get caught.”  Bran smirked, filling a second glass and pushing it across the table. Jojen stared at it apprehensively. “Look, man, I already told you- I'm not trying to manipulate you. If anything, I'm manipulating Meera into getting us booze. So relax and just drink, yeah?”

 Jojen threw the drink back into his mouth, nearly choking as it burned. Coughing with tears in his eyes, Jojen was mildly aware of Bran laughing. “Oh man. This is going to be interesting. Meera should have started you off on vodka.”

 Jojen shook his head and cleared his still burning throat. He reached out to refill the drink, despite not liking the taste. “Why don't you ask me what you want to? Get it out of the way?”

 “What? And you'd actually answer? Yeah right.” Bran filled his own glass up, smiling and shaking his head. “Me, Meera, your father… we've been asking you for weeks to tell us what happened and you won't. You're going to need more than one shot to start talking, if you would at all. So, no.  I'm not going to ask you, but I already said I wouldn't.”

 “I know who it was.” Jojen said, gazing deep into the shot glass he held.

 “I know.” Bran nodded. “Everybody knows that, you're not a good liar Reed. So why bother?”

 “I didn't want Meera to know.” Jojen said quietly, tossing back another shot. “She’s a loose cannon, I couldn't be sure what she'd do if she knew.”

 Bran didn't know what to do. Part of him wanted Jojen just to get to the point but the other half knew that he needed to give Jojen the time to say whatever it was he needed to. Jojen had to get this off his chest, no matter how long it took.

 “But so are you, in a way.” Jojen took the bottle off the table and drank from it, wincing. “Ugh, that's nasty.  But you are unpredictable Bran, I don't know what you would do if you knew.”

 “Nothing, if that's what you wanted me to do.”Bran assured him, eyeing the bottle of whiskey warily. Jojen was taking to the liquor stronger than Bran was expecting and it made him nervous. “But Jojen? Some person beating up a defenseless kid in a parking lot for no reason? I think you should tell somebody- somebody who can help.”

 “It wasn't for no reason. He had a reason.” Jojen seemed to glup more than sip now, and Bran was seriously considering taking the bottle away. He'd rather Jojen not talk about it than convince himself that drinking would it better.

 “He hated me, Bran, and he…” Tears came into his eyes and Jojen took another swig. “No, I'm not- you're good at this manipulation thing.”

 “I'm not manipulating you.” Bran replied, honestly confused. “All I did was hand you a drink and you started talking.”

 Jojen narrowed his eyes, holding the bottle of Jack close to his chest. He rocked slowly in his seat. “Bran, did you know I'm gay? I never told anybody but maybe you knew. He knew, he doesn't even know me but he knew this. And he hated me for it, Bran. Hated me.”

 Bran reached out for the bottle, trying to pry it from Jojen’s grip. Jojen whined and pulled away, spilling it slightly on the floor. “Mine!”

 “Jojen, come on, that's enough you can't drink your problem away, dude!” Bran put his hands down in surrender and looked sadly at Jojen. “If you want to talk, you can talk to me okay? But you don't need anymore alcohol right now.”

 “I think I'll be the judge of that, Brandon.” Jojen slurred, slapping Bran on the thigh. “ _You_ should go back home, go back to your family. It's not safe for you here. I might corrupt you. You've seen what they do to people like me here.”

 Jojen gestured wildly at the faded bruises on his face. Bran sighed and squeezed his eyes shut. “Jojen, no. Sexuality isn't catching. I've been bi as long as I could remember, it's just who I am.”

 Jojen looked at Bran, teary eyed and holding the bottle to his chest. Bran decided it might be best if he just kept going. “What that person did to you was horrible and wrong, okay Jojen? But it was _not_ your fault. You did nothing wrong.”

 “You're so nice to me.” Jojen put the bottle on the table and hiccoughed out a giggle. “You're so nice, and you can skateboard and you have really pretty hair.”

 Bran felt his cheeks heat up and glanced down at the table. His fingers tapped the table in a nervous fashion and Jojen’s hand was suddenly covering his. “So nice…”

 Jojen was suddenly very close to Bran, causing Bran’s heart to beat quickly. He remembered walking in on Jojen after his shower, how it had made him feel. He was so caught up in those thoughts that it took him a moment to realize Jojen was kissing him.

 Bran kissed back, fisting a hand onto Jojen’s shirt and pulling him close. Jojen let out a surprised gasp and wrapped his arms around Bran’s neck.

 Suddenly, at the taste of the alcohol hitting his tongue, Bran pulled back “No. Jojen, you're drunk. We can't.”

 Jojen hummed, hanging off of Bran. “Okay, you're really drunk. That was fast. Let's get you to bed.”

 “I love you, Bran.” Jojen whispered as Bran hoisted him to his feet, despite the height Jojen had on him.

 “Yeah…  love you too.”


End file.
